Cyptograma has to be the most appealing interface to a cryptographic puzzle that I have ever seen. Created by Alicia Ramirez of Manitoba, Canada, the game features quotes and phrases to decrypt from famous people, and they are available either in English or en Español.

Each puzzle is in the form of a simple substitution cipher in which each letter of a phrase is substituted with a symbol. It is up to you to figure out the letter that each symbol corresponds to.

To play, use the keyboard and the mouse in combination by first clicking on a symbol to select it, and then typing a letter on the keyboard. All like symbols will then become the letter you typed, regardless of whether you guessed correctly, so keep working with the puzzle until you get it right.

Analysis: The fluorescent lime green and yellow colors together contrasted against the black background creates a visually stunning appearance to the game that really grabs you and pulls you into the puzzle. The use of symbols instead of other letters broadens the appeal of this game to include even those that may not usually play with cryptograms. Overall an excellent game design by Alicia Ramirez. The only area in which I see room for improvement would be a greater number and a wider variety of phrases. Additional languages would also be a nice to have.

Definitely a great interface. The bright colors and the symbols definitely make the puzzle seem very friendly. I really like the fact that the background colors change when you input a letter - it provides a subtle difference between those which you have entered and those which you have not.

Overall, in my 'ideal' cryptogram-solving tool, it would have a couple of additional tools, such as 'lock this letter', 'reveal this letter', and a choice to toggle skipping over filled letters. However, I really enjoy the clean interface this provides, and I know that adding any of these would make it significantly more cluttered.
Kudos to Alicia Ramirez!

it'd be a bit more interesting if the author of the quote was included as a part of the puzzle. knowing the author sometimes serves as a hint as to what kind of words may be used, so it may be more challenging to the puzzle as a whole. but then again, if you can guess the author first then you got a few letters to start with.

This game is one of the greatest and most addicting on the sites, but there is just one major annoyance: The game does not keep track of which quotes it has already given you, so you wind up playing the same one several times while waiting for a new one to show up. Yes, you can just hit "New Game," but it's still something annoying.

If she could just fix that problem, this game would be pretty much perfect.

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